T5 ho uvl vho?

OK so I own a T5 lamp and I have the crummy bulbs that came with it, for the tanks current FOWLR setup it works just fine, but I'm thinking of upgrading to a better set of bulbs since these have been running for about 2 years or at least one of them has =P What is the difference between a standard HO bulb and one of these UVL V-HO bulbs I've been reading on and off about from you guys?

Also what rating in kelvin should i be getting I've heard numbers from 8,000K to 12,000K and I'm not sure where to start? Now I see there are even a mix of 50%50% and 85%15%?

 

The VHO is a T12 bulb. I would get either ATI bulbs or Geismann bulbs.

 

V-ho

sorry the title is misleading i meant V-HO,

This is what I'm looking at.

 

Its just another brand name T5 bulb.

 

Uvl v-ho

so there's nothing too special about the UVL V-HO?

 

Maybe a longer shelf life but thats about it. The instruction on life inside the fixture basically says it all. Just depends on what color you would like your tank to produce.

 

The V-HO is designed to be overdriven without losing any life. You need a T5HO ballast designed to overdrive the bulb. IMO is just a waste of electricity as I believe I read somewhere that their is no big increase in PAR from the bulb.

Upgrade with the bulbs Reefbruh suggested. You can use the UVL bulbs as well as they are good bulbs.

 

Good info to know!

 

Kelvin is a way to measure its color, low ratings like 6500 are yellowish, ratings like 10,000, 12,000, and 15,000k are very white, while 20,000k is in the actinic (blue) range. Most people would have atleast 1 10000k and 1 Actinic.